Paladins: Champions of the Realm, Hi-Rez Entertainment's hero shooter, is now officially coming to the Nintendo Switch. After a lengthy build-up of leaks and rumors, Hi-Rez confirmed that the port would be arriving soon - very soon. A pre-release Early Access window for those who buy Paladins' $29.99 Founders Pack will start on June 12, with a free-to-play option arriving later this summer.
Hi-Rez isn't settling for letting Paladins be just another Nintendo Switch port, however. The studio is working to make sure that Paladins runs up to the high standards held across all other supported platforms. As such, Paladins will run at a solid 60fps on the Nintendo Switch in both docked and handheld mode. Multiplayer running at anything less than 60fps just wouldn't be the same for the high action shooter.
Also new for Paladins on Nintendo Switch is the addition of cross-platform play. Crossplay on the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One will enable players to match against each other in multiplayer, expanding the player base and making it easier for friends with different consoles to play together. Hi-Rez likely decided not to include PC players in order to manage competitive parity. And sadly, it seems Sony's continued denial of cross-play with other platforms persists with Paladins on Switch.
As mentioned, Paladins will initially launch via an Early Access period on June 12 - the start of E3 2018. The only way to participate in this Early Access period is to purchase the $29.99 Founders Pack. In addition to Early Access, the Founders Pack will provide full access to all of Paladin's Champions and voice packs "now and forever," as well as some exclusive cosmetics.
Those who prefer to wait for Paladins' free-to-play launch won't have to wait long, with the full game launching later this summer. The free-to-play version of the game grants access to five free Champions completely, plus four more on a weekly rotation. Of course, players will be able to unlock other content through gameplay or microtransactions.
Take note that while Paladins online multiplayer will initially be freely accessible on the Nintendo Switch at first, players will have to subscribe to the premium Nintendo Online Service when it launches in September.
Paladins releases on Nintendo Switch on July 12 and will be available free-to-play later this summer. Paladins is also available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Stay tuned for more information during E3 2018.